I was up very early (for an old guy) and met Mike Carey at Thurston County's Black Lake public access at 6:00 A.M. We started fishing at the southwest corner of the lake but found lots of thick weeds and slimy goo. Nearly impossible to bass fish. We move north to about the mid point of the lake where the shoreline was steeper and the drop offs were much deeper. There was very few weeds and no slime. The first fish to get the skunk off the boat was a little smallmouth about 7 inches that hit a Rapala 11 HT (hot steel) Mike soon hooked up with a very nice bass on his Cabala's floating minnow that looks much like a Rapala 11 S. Mike played it expertly on his light spinning gear and opted for the net rather than the jaw landing. I netted it for him and we found only one hook holding a very little thin piece of lip flesh. One jump or shake of the head near the boat and that fish would have never came aboard. Good decision Mike. The fish was weighed, measured, photographed, thanked for the memories and gently released. A little later, I flipped a black jig near an old log and hooked up with a fiesty smallmouth that put on quite a surface show. It was a dandy 14 incher. She too was checked for her vital stats and released. Another very little smallmouth hit the hot steel Rapala. That fish was barely as big as the lure. Think she just wanted a playmate. Mike had several "nibbles" on his plastic worm and hooked up briefly with another nice fish but no more fish came aboard. It had to be one of the most perfect days on the water with no wind and ideal temperatures. All in all it was a very nice day on the water with a good fishing buddy.

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